-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- You know things in Chicago are bad when 70 murders in the first quarter can be seen as a good thing . But context is everything : Last year at this time there had been more than 120 murders , so I guess we should thank God for small favors .

It seems inconceivable that the city President Barack Obama calls home is also the city where his family may be least safe . Just this Monday a 15-year-old boy was found shot dead in a backyard only four blocks from the president 's house .

What 's responsible for the bloodshed ? Gang violence , as usual . Police estimate that of the 532 murders in 2012 -- nearly 1.5 a day -- about 80 percent were gang related . And yet , despite that rather staggering statistic , the national outcry is muted at best -- nothing , to say the least , like the kind we saw last week in Boston . What is it about the word `` gang '' that brings out the apathy in us ? Would we view Chicago differently if we called the perpetrators something else ?

In Chicago , nurses dodge bullets to provide care

I 'm not saying the people of Boston do not deserve our sympathy ; they do . Nor am I suggesting the apprehension of Boston terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not essential . But how do we explain our habit of greeting terrorists with 24-hour news coverage and relentless wrath while overlooking the gangs that terrorize our streets daily -- as if terrorism were only an enemy state and not a concept .

The murder numbers may be slightly better in Chicago , but they do not fully communicate the city 's state of siege . In February CNN reported that some children living in gang-ridden parts of the city carry guns because , to them , getting caught and serving time for possession of a gun is better than getting caught without one and dying .

Last month , city officials announced the closure of 54 `` under-resourced '' schools , which will force some kids to walk across warring gang territory to get to school . For example , in the seven blocks between George Manierre Elementary and Jenner Elementary there are three gangs fighting over territory : Black P Stones , Conservative Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples .

Kids and guns : ` These are not isolated tragedies '

If it all sounds scary , it 's only because it is .

And if the name attached to all of this violence were al-Qaeda instead of Gangster Disciples ; or if instead of `` gang violence '' the bloodshed were called `` terrorism ; '' or if instead of calling the people spreading fear and mayhem gangs we were to call them what they really are -- terrorists -- the nation would demand more be done .

After all , if children are afraid to walk to school because they might get killed or if residents are afraid to identify perpetrators for fear of retaliation , I think it 's safe to say they are being terrorized .

What seems like a linguistic shell game is really an exercise in empathy . The thought of elementary school kids walking across areas of a city controlled by three terrorist groups becomes unacceptable to everyone , not just their parents . Hearing that 25 Chicagoans were shot in one weekend becomes a threat to national security , and not just the mayor 's problem .

The story of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton , who was caught in the crossfire of a turf war days after performing during the presidential inauguration , was of interest briefly but her story has since faded . She , too , died just a few blocks from the Obama 's home . Jonylah Watkins , a 6-month-old girl , was shot in March while sitting on the lap of her father , Jonathan , the intended target and a gang member .

Opinion : Chicago 's violence took my dad , friends

Last week , millions watched as an entire city was shut down to look for one guy . Every major news station was covering the pursuit of one guy . We all know the face and relatives of this one guy . And it 's all because he is an alleged terrorist . But more American were murdered in the south and west sides of Chicago than there were U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan last year , and yet for some reason we do n't view those neighborhoods as terrorized .

Last week , Abdella Ahmad Tounisi was arrested at O'Hare Airport because the FBI believed he was on his way to Syria to join a terrorist organization . Tounisi reportedly thought he was in contact with a recruiter for a jihadist militant group , but it was actually an FBI agent . I would love to see the FBI 's anti-terrorism resources used in that matter to stop would-be gang members from flooding the streets of the country 's third-largest city . Maybe Cornelius German , the boy found dead down the street from Obama 's house , would still be alive .

Maybe Pendleton , who was playing in a park with her friends , would still be alive . Maybe Watkins , who was sitting on her father 's lap , would have had a chance to live .

Their deaths would n't be considered `` Chicago 's problem '' if authorities suspected terrorists were involved . But it 's `` gang-related , '' so ...

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson .

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LZ Granderson : First quarter of 2013 saw 70 murders in Chicago

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He asks why are n't gangs treated like terrorists ? They do damage like terrorists in Boston

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He says children are unsafe , in terror because they must cross gang territory for school

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Granderson : Where is the urgency to fight such violence ?